Red Cliff International Dance Festi

A phenomenal two-week celebration of dance featuring a collection of the world's greatest performing artists and most visionary choreographers has roots that go back to 1989. In 1989, the famed Bolshoi Ballet Academy of Moscow had embarked on its first tour of the United States in nearly 20 years and found itself in Vail after a cancelled engagement. The beauty of the Rocky Mountains and the warmth of the Vail Valley community made an immediate impression on artistic director Sophia Golovkina and an engagement with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy began.  Former President and Mrs. Gerald R. Ford, residents of the Vail Valley and ardent supporters of the Vail Valley Foundation, recognized the potential for creating this cultural exchange through dance. In the summer of 1993, the first International Evenings of Dance were created, featuring principal couples representing major international dance companies.  Principal dancers performing in the International Evenings have included some of the world’s most celebrated principal dancers as guest artists including: Agnes Letestu and Jose Martinez, the Paris Opera Ballet; Vladimir Malakhov, Galina Stepenyanko, Nadezda Gratcheva, Sergei Filin, the Bolshoi Ballet; Joan Boada in his first USA appearance;  Bernice Coppietiers, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo; Damian Woetzel, New York City Ballet; Ethan Steifel, American Ballet Theatre and Evelyn Hart and Rex Harrington, National Ballet of Canada; to name a few. In 2006, the Vail Valley Foundation appointed New York City Ballet star, Damian Woetzel, to lead the Festival into a new era of success.